Ireland are out of the World Cup. And thank the Lord. Don’t get me wrong:
- I have absolutely nothing against Ireland
- I welcome European and Irish political, cultural, and economic cooperation
- My family is of Irish descent (isn’t everyone’s?) and my surname is Irish
But at least we won’t now have to put up with the embarrassing spectacle of large amounts of English people regarding Ireland as a home team. It’s not, and they fought long and hard so that it isn’t. A similar and only slightly less forgivable thing happens with Scotland: if England go out, the English start supporting other British teams, like Scotland or Ryan Giggs. I doubt if the pubs of Glasgow will be filled with England fans next summer, nor can I see many Dubliners cheering on England, the ‘home’ team, in lieu of the Republic’s finest.
Then again, with Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ryan Giggs, and the Republic of Ireland out, maybe they’ll have to.